Refrigerator



Jan. 1, 1924 w. MANTEUFFEL REFRIGERATOR Filed Au 5. 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet'1 Z; 6 N 7 CW4 r NH 4 a w J m w Q? m Q1 m i N Qw m mW x Jan. 1, 1924 W.MANTEUFFEL REFRIGERATOR Filed Aug. 3, 1920 2 Sheets-Sheet. 2

Patented Jan. 1, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM MAN'TEUFFEL, OF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

REFRIGERATOR.

Application filed August 3, 1920. Serial No. 400,912.

To all whom. it may concern Be it known that I, VViLLmM h'lAN'rnUrFnL, acitizen of the United States, residin at St. Paul, in the county ofRamsey and i. fate of Minnesota, have invented a new and usefulImprovemnt in Refrigerators, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to refrigerators, the primary object of which is ina refrigerator esigned to intake fresh air at the ice chamber and passthe same through the provision chamber below the ice chamber, thencethrough the provision chamber at the bottom and side of the ice chamberand out of the uppermost part of the provision chamber. In this mannerfresh, pure air is circulated through the refrigerator and thecirculation of the air through the same provides a refrigerator which iscapable of preserving food a great deal longer than where dead air iscontained and held enclosed in the same.

The invention provides a peculiar construction for directing oradmitting air from the outer atmosphere into the refrigerator in amanner in which is most effective without undue action on the icecontained therein, thus preventing the unnecessary or rapid consumptionof ice in the refrigerator.

A further object of the invention is to provide a side or division wallwhich is closed or sealed at the top to divide the upper portion of therefrigerator while the same is open at the bottom to allow the air fromthe ice chamber and intake passageway to pass into the main provisionchamber and out at the uper extremity of the same. Heretofore in then'ianufacture of refrigerators it has been desirable to provide thedivision wall with a assageway at the top and bottom to allow t e airconcealed in the refrigerator to circulate through the ice and provisionchambers. This principle is contrary to the construction of myrefrigerator as it would not be practical to have the division wall openat. the top in my device.

Further objects and peculiar features of the invention will be morefully described and set forth in the specification and claims.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a front view of my refrigerator partly illustrated in crosssection.

Fi re 2 is a side sectional elevation on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a sectional detail on the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 1s a diagrammatic view of a show case refrigerator with acentral ice chamber partly illustrated in section.

Figure 5 is a diagrammatic view of the socalled butcher cooler partlyillustrated in cross section.

In the drawings, the refrigerator A illustrated in Figures 1 to 3 is ofordinary outer cabinet construction, having a side ice chamber I}, whichis separated from the main provision chamber C by the partition or wall10. A provision chamber D is formed directly below the ice chamber Bthrough which the drain pipe 11 from the removable drip pan 12 extendsto drain the water from the ice in the ice chamber to discharge the sameoutside of the refrigerator in the ordi nary manner.

The partition or division wall 10 extends to the ceiling 13 of therefrigerator A to seal and separate the upper portion of the provisionchamber from the refrigerator chamber so that there is no connection orair passageway from one to the other exceptin below the lower edge 14 ofthe division wal 10. This construction causes the cold air from the icein the chamber B to be passed through the grate on which the ice restsand below the lower edge 14, through the chamber D and into the chamberC, while none of the air from the chamber C is passed back into the icechamber, either through the wall 10 or over the top of the same, as hasordinarily been done hertofore. In this construction my refrigerator isentirely different in operation than other refrigerators used heretofore.

An opening 15, which is covered by a suitable protecting mesh, allowsfresh air to enter the passageway 16, which extends along the top andback of the refrigerator chamher and out of the passageway 17, justbelow the ice grate 18 to admit fresh air from the outer atmosphere intothe refrigerator A directly below the ice chamber B.

A frusto-pyramidical shaped pan 19 concentrates the water from the grate18 so that the same can be directed into the removable pan 12.

An outlet passageway 20 is positioned in the uppermost position in thechamber G to allow warm air to pass from the inner part of therefrigerator to the outer atmosphere. The opening 20 is covered on theoutside with a suitable protecting mesh in a similar manner as theprotection for the opening 15. It is desirable to have the opening 20positioned as high as possible in the chamber .0 to allow the Wait-m airand odors to be passed out of the provision chamber, it being readilyunderstood that the amount of air pass log out of the opening 20 will bein propor- (ion and in accordance with the ingress of fresh air from theouter atmosphere through the opening i5 and thepassageway 16, so that inthe operation of the refrigerator A, the ice in the chamber B willsuliiciently cool the passageway 16, which is separated from the icechamber it by the metal lining of the refrigerator B, thus readilytransmitting cold air to the passageway 16 and causing the attraction ofthe air in the outer atmosphere intothe passageway 16 and down outthrough the openig 17, as indicated by the arrows in Figure 2. in thismanner introducing fresh air into the refrigerator provision chamber andforming a circulation by allowing warm air to pass out through theopening 20.

The construction of the passageway 16 prevents any inflow of warm airbeing directed against the ice, thus in no way tending to amelt the icewith unnecessary rapidity, while on the other hand. the introduction offresh air iroin the outer atmosphere in connection With the opening 20,allows fresh air to be introduced and circulated through the iprovisionchamber C. The fresh air entering the passageway 16 is sufiiciently coolas it passes through the passageway l6 so that bythe time it egressesfrom the opening 17 it is materially reduced in temperature andsatithispoint it comes in contact with theicold air from the chamber B in thismanner reducing the fresh air to the proper temperature to cool theprovision chamber of the refrigerator A. The circulating air through theprovision chambers has a tendency to equalize the temperature in therefrigerator A and thus gives a much lower temperature at the uppermostportion of the provision chamber C than is attainable where the same aircirculates continuously through the chambers of the refrigerator, at thesame time introducing the desired amount of fresh, pure air from theouter atmosphere. =11: is a wellknown fact inrefrigeratorsthat wherefresh air can be circulated from the outer atmosphere into therefrigerator without interfering withithe refrigeration of thesaiueithat a much more ctlective and practical refrigeration can beobtained than where dead air is confined in the refrigerator and causedto circulate over the provisions and ice contained in the same. In apractical test of this refrigerator I have found that fresh air willreadily enter through the passageway 15 and zthe warm air from theprovision chamber will be passed out: of the opening 20. In fachthedraft-ofair passingintothe passageway 15 willvgausea light pieceof-pa-per tobe drawn towordland the opening 15, while is Similar pieceof paper is {blown away from the opening 20. The closed division wallit), especially at the top with an opening at the bottom, forces thevdrait. the direction to ward the opening 20 and as the cold air pressesthe arm air out of the upper portion of the chamber C, it will bereadily understood thatthesame amount. of air as is passed out will bedrawn in through the opening 15 and passageway 16. I I

In F gure 4 a show case refrigerator is illustrated diagramniaticallyithe ice chann loor B being positioned centrally in the same. While theprovision chambers are located on either side and the partitions 10extend downward from the ceiling of the provision chambers, leavingpassageways below the lower edge 14 of thesame to allow the cold airfrom the ice chamber to be passed into the provision chamber C. An inletpas sageway 15 allows fresh air to be admitted into the chamber d)directly below the ice chamber, as is illustrated in Figure 1. whileoutlet passageways 20 are provided on either end at the uppermostportion of the provision chamber C. This construction performs the samefunctions as the refrigerator illustrated in Figures 1 to 3.

Figure 5 illustrates diagrammatically a so-called butcher cooler with;the overhead ice chamber 5B extending across and above the mainprovision chamberCi while an inlet passageway 15 is provided whichconllll meets the passageway 16 to pass fresh air from the outeratmosphere into the provision chember C from the passageway 16 out ofthe opening 17 in a similar manner as illustrated in Figure 1. In thisconstruction a passageway 22 extending upwardly from the chamberCconnects the provision chamber- C at the opposite side to the inletopeir ing-li? with the outlet missagmva 20 so as to allow the warm airto be passed out of th refrigerator. This construction gives the samefunctions as that performed by the constructions hereinheforeillustrated. The inlet and outlet openings 15 and 20 are positionedabove the upper doors in the construction illustrated "in Figure l andare positioned atthe uppermost portion of the ice and provisionchambers. respectively, each of the constructions being positioned at anequal height to each other where it is possible to provide an evencirculation through the refrigerator.

It will be readily seen that the fresh air fromithe outeratinosphere inthe construction of the refrigerators illustrated is passed through therefrigeratorchamber without coming indirect contact with the ice and isdischarged into :theprovis'ion chamber at a colder temperature than whenit enters the inlet passageway and 4 allows the free: circulation of airthrough the provision chamber passing out through ithe opening '20; thusmaintaining a circulation of fresh, cool or refrigerating air throughthe provision chamber of the refrigerator at all times. The functions ofeach of the constructions illustrated are identical to accomplish theprincipal of my invention.

I have illustrated particular constructions of refrigerators in thedrawings but I desire to have it understood that these are onlyillustrative and that the invention can be carried out by other meansand applied to uses other than those above set forth within the scope ofthe following claims:

1. A refrigerator comprising a casing having a partition extendingdownwardly from the upper portion of said casing to form an icecompartment on one side thereof and a food compartment to the side ofand below said ice compartment, an air inlet on the front of said casingon one side of said partition, an air outlet on the front of said casingon the opposite side of said partition communicating with said foodcompartment, and a duct connected with said inlet running along theunder surface of said casing within the ice compartment, and from thencedownwardly along the inner surface of the back of said casing anddischarging below said ice compartment into said food compartment.

2. A refrigerator comprising a casing, an ice chamber positioned in anupper corner of said casing and a food compartment situated below and tothe side of said ice compartment, an air inlet positioned in the frontof said casing opposite the upper portion of said ice compartment, aduct connected with said inlet extending along the upper portion of saidice compartment and from thence along the back of the same anddischarging below said ice compartment into said food compartment, andan outlet formed in the front of said casing adjacent said inlet leadinginto the upper portlon of said food compartment.

3. A refrigerator comprising a casing containing an ice chamberpositloned at an upper portion thereof, a food compartment extendingbelow and to the side of said ice chamber an air inlet in said casing atthe upper portion thereof opposite said ice chamber, means forconducting air from said inlet around said ice chamber and dischargingit into said food compartment below the ice chamber, and an air outletdirectly communicating with food compartment at the side opposite saidice chamber at the upper portion thereof.

4. A refrigerator having an ice chamber, a fresh air passageway passingover said ice chamber and down the side thereof to admit fresh air fromthe outer atmosphere directly below the ice chamber, a partition havinga closed upper end adapted to separate the ice chamber from theprovision chamber of said refrigerator, a passageway below saidpartition to admit refrigerating air from said ice chamber and saidinlet passageway to the provision chamber and an outlet passagewayprovided at the upper extremity of the provision chamber to allow air tobe circulated from below the ice chamber into the provision chamber andout of the upper extremity of the provision chamber, whereby acirculation of fresh, refrigerating air is continuously passed throughsaid provision chamber and the warm air out of the same to the outeratmosphere.

5. A refrigerator comprising a casing containing an ice chamberpositioned at an upper portion thereof, a food compartment extendingbelow and to the side of said ice chamber, an air inlet in the front ofsaid casing at the upper portion thereof opposite said ice chamber, apipe for conductin air from said inlet across the top of sai ice chamberdown the rearward wall of the same, and an outlet to said pipe fordischarging the air immediately below said ice chamber in the portion ofthe food compartment beneath the same, and an air outlet directlycommunicating with the food compartment in the side opposite to said icechamber on the front of the refrigerator adjacent said inlet opening.

WILLIAM MANTEUFFEL.

